Vellocet
by Now.Get.This
Summary: COMPLETE. Soda is the father of Sandy's baby and he decides to help raise their baby girl.
1. I Need A Name

A/N: Before you read the story there's a few things you should know. The baby is Soda's. Sandy never went to Florida. And this is set in 2008. Though it's not a time travel fic. Johnny and Dally are alive.

**Chapter One**

"What's her name?" I asked. Sandy shrugged, keeping her eyes closed. I looked down at the baby, our baby. She wasn't awake yet but she looked just like Sandy, I thought. Though Steve said she looks like me. Steve had brought me to the hospital and we arrived maybe two minutes after our little girl was brought into the world. It was crazy to think she was mine, but that's how it is. Darry doesn't know about her yet. I mean he doesn't know Sandy gave birth to her. So I'm a little worried about telling him.

"What do you want to name her?" Sandy asked opening her eyes. I looked over at Sandy and shrugged, grinning. I really had no idea what to name her. I mean its hard thinking of the perfect name. And this name has to be perfect, she will have to live with it forever so it has to be good.

"I don't know. When do we have to name her by?" I asked. Sandy chuckled at my question.

"She's not a dog. I'm staying overnight so by tomorrow morning," she said and settled down again to go to sleep. I sighed. A name, I thought. I knew lots of names but I needed the right one. I looked down at our baby. Cheryl, Julia, Sarah, I thought. But none of the names suited her. This was going to be harder than I thought. I'm sure Sandy has an idea of what she wants to name her, but I'll wait until tomorow morning to ask. She's tired.

"I'm gonna go," I said to Sandy. She opened her eyes and looked at me. "Why are you staying over night anyway?"

"Because Soda, it's almost one am. The doctor said I could stay if I wanted and I want to. Here," she stretched out her arms and I stood up and gently settled the baby down in her arms. I smiled at them. I was so happy but I was scared to show it. People think it's crazy for two sixteen-year-olds to have a baby. But I don't think it's so bad.

"I'll come by tomorrow," I said. I took one last look at them. Sandy nodded lazily at me and shut her eyes. She looked perfect. She was perfect. I walked out of the room quietly. Or as quietly as I could. I had no way to get home. I went to the payphone down the hall and put in fifty cents. I dialled our house number and impatiently waited as it rang.

"Hello?" Pony asked. I knew it was him.

"Hey, is Steve there?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll tell him to come get you," Pony said and I heard him yawn.

"Thanks but don't tell Darry-" and the line cut out. Damn! I thought. These damn stupid phones.

Ponyboy knew why I was at the hospital and I made him promise not to mention it to Darry. If Darry asked where I was he was supposed to say I was out with friends. I should be the one to tell Darry about this. Besides it would make me look lousy if I got my brother to tell my other brother my daughter had been born.

I left the phone hanging by the cord and took the elevator downstairs. I waited just inside the doors for Steve. He shouldn't be too long. And he wasn't, he arrived ten minutes later. I jumped into his car and put on my seatbelt.

"Hey," I said. I was still smiling about my baby. I had a baby. That last time I looked at Sandy and our baby together was perfect.

"Oh yeah you've had a great night. I'm trying to sleep and you make me come get you," Steve said, pulling out from the car park and onto the road. "Why couldn't you get Pony to come get you?"

"Because he doesn't have a license."

"Well either did you when you started driving. He can drive can't he?" Steve asked, looking at me.

"Don't look at me, look at the road!" I said pointing at the road in front of us. "Anyway he can drive, I taught him," I said.

"Oh no," Steve mumbled. I punched him playfully, of course, on the shoulder. We went the rest of the way in silence. We got home; the light from the front room was on. Please don't be Darry, I silently begged.

"What did you say to Darry about me not being here?" I asked Steve as we got out of the car. After Steve had dropped me off at the hospital he had gone back to my house so I could call him to come get me.

"Told him you were on a date," he said, walking up the porch steps. I thought about that, that was a good excuse. Better than the one I had thought of. We went inside where it was much warmer. It was November 29. Our baby was born November 28, 2008 at 11:42pm. It was the end of Spring but tonight was one of those freezing cold nights that just happen and I hate them.

"Hey Pony," I said, sitting on the couch. Lucky it was him who was awake, not Darry. He nodded. "Where's Darry?"

"Asleep. Lucky you didn't wake him when you called before," he said, smiling a little. I turned on the TV. Pony had been reading before we got here. There was nothing on, just the TV shows that aren't good enough to be shown at day. I sat back on the couch, I was pretty tired. After a few minutes of sitting there, staring blankly at the TV I decided to go to bed.

"I'm going to sleep," I told them walking down the hall. Steve was staying the night and Pony followed me right away. We got into bed and lay in the dark. I could see the outline of Pony on the other side of the bed and I began to think about what to name our baby. It had to be a special name, a different name. I thought about every girl I had ever known, but they had all had plain names. You know your everyday names, Michelle, Shannen, and Brittany. I wanted something different. "Pony," I said, poking him in the back. He rolled over facing me.

"What?"

"I need a name for our baby. A cool name."

"Cool? What are you five?" Pony asked before sitting up and turning on the lamp. "Like what?" he asked.

"I don't know just something different, like our names," I said, trying to come up with anything. I wasn't sure whether Sandy would like our baby to have a name 'like our names'. But she had always said my name was what got her attention at first.

We sat there for a while coming up with names. But I didn't like any of them. I gave up and layed down. "I didn't know it would be this hard to choose a name," I said. Pony shrugged and picked up his book off the desk.

"Yeah whatever," He sat up properly against the wall and opened his book. There was a picture of a glass of milk on the cover. A Clockwork Orange, I read. I remembered that book. In tenth grade our English teacher used part of the book as an example for something. Then she decided that we should read some of it as well. Now I'm not the best reader and what with the language in the book I had no idea what was going on. Darry and even Pony tried to explain it but it was hopeless and I gave up.

"You're not supposed to read that," I said, to Pony before I rolled over facing the doorway.

"And you're not supposed to have a baby either," he said. I sat up and smacked him across the head.

"Shut up!" I sat up and leaned against the wall. Now that I was awake I wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. I looked over Pony's shoulder and tried reading some of the book. But then a sentence caught my eye, 'You could peet it with vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom or one or two other veshches.' It wasn't the whole sentence that I liked. Just the word Vellocet.

**I've rewritten this chapter but I've tried to keep it as close to the original as possible.**


	2. Vellocet

**Chapter Two**

I was eating breakfast the next morning; well I was trying to eat. I was nervous for two reasons. Today we decided on a name for the baby and I also had to tell Darry that we even had a baby. I tried eating but I felt sick. Steve was sitting across from me and I don't even think he was chewing the food before he swallowed it. Pony wasn't eating much either, he was doing homework. He said he wanted to get it out the way. And I told him if he wanted to get it out of the way he should throw it out. He didn't like my idea.

"Soda, how come you got in so late last night?" Darry asked coming into the kitchen. I jumped at his voice.

"Well, I uh-" I started but I didn't need to finish because the phone rang and Darry went to answer it. I quickly put my plate on the counter and went to my and Pony's bedroom. I closed the door and sat on the bed, pulling my shoes on. I was still thinking about that name, Vellocet. It wasn't really a name. But I liked it. I wasn't sure why.

"Hey Soda where you going?" Pony asked, coming in. I jumped, making the nervous knot in my stomach pull tighter. I was sure he was Darry coming in to again ask why I'd come in so late.

"Steve's taking me to see Sandy," I said. "We still have to name the baby." I tied up the laces on my shoes and stood up. I hoped Steve was ready to leave now.

"Soda could I um, come with you?" Pony asked his voice getting smaller with every word. I didn't even have to think about it.

"Yeah, you ready?" I asked, almost yelling. He nodded and grabbed his shoes. I was glad Pony was coming. There was something I had to ask Sandy and if Pony was there she wouldn't yell. You see last night while I was thinking about names I thought of who would take care of her. Usually people would think the mother of the child would be the parent but I wanted to help raise our baby too. I was going to ask Sandy about this.

After Pony put on his shoes the two of us went out to the kitchen.

"Ready?" Steve asked. I nodded and we left before Darry, who was still on the phone, could stop us. We jumped into the car and Steve took off as soon as he shut the door. It was still early in the morning and I was hungry from not eating. I wasn't too happy about that.

"Where you going to go?" I asked Steve as he pulled into the hospital car park.

"Don't know," he mumbled, shrugging. He stopped the car so I and Pony could jump out.

"Thanks," I said, slamming the door shut and he drove away. We went inside and headed for the elevator. I remembered the room number. Floor 5, room 408. I pushed the button with the 5 on it in the elevator and the doors shut.

"What name did you choose?" Pony asked me. He hadn't spoken much on the way here. I think he was a little nervous about seeing Sandy and the baby. Especially since Darry still didn't even know, I knew Pony didn't approve of that.

I was a little embarrassed to tell him the name I had chosen but I did.

"Um, Vellocet," I said. He nodded and had a smile on his face.

"Why did you choose that?" he asked. I didn't know why I had chosen that. It was just a nice word.

"Because. . .I don't know. I needed something different and that was in your book. It's just. . .nice," I said, as the elevator doors opened and we walked out into the hall. I turned left and went right on into Sandy's room. She was sitting up in bed looking down at our baby in the crib next to the bed.

"Hey Sandy," I said, walking over to her. I went straight for the crib actually. Pony hesitated before following me over to the crib and looking down at my baby. He smiled.

"Hi Soda, hey Pony," Sandy said, looking up at us. I smiled at her and looked back down at Vellocet. It seemed to suit her. I noticed the few hairs that she had weren't blond. They were kind of a light brown, but I wasn't sure. "I have a few names I like," Sandy said. I nodded and sat down in one of the three chairs in the room. Pony sat down next to the crib.

"I have a few too. You go first," I said. I only really liked the name Vellocet but she doesn't have to know that.

"Okay well the first name is Monique," I shrugged. I didn't really like it.

"Next," I said.

"Kaitlyn," That's a nice name, I thought. Vellocet or Kaitlyn. "And the last name is Laurie," Sandy said, smiling.

"I like Kaitlyn," I told her. She kept smiling back at me.

"What are your names?" she asked.

"Um, Amber," I lied. She nodded, she seemed to like it. "Hayley, or um. . .Vellocet?" I said the last name in a question. She raised her eyebrows at me.

"Vellocet?" she asked. I nodded and grinned. I stood up and looked over the crib.

"Look, she's not a Monique or a Hayley or Amber. But wait, Vellocet," I said and stared at the baby. "She seems to like it," I said, grinning at Sandy and Pony.

"I like it," Pony told us, shrugging. I looked at Sandy. She was biting her lip and thinking about it.

"Where did you hear that name?" she asked.

"In a book," I said, shaking my head. Pony looked at Sandy and they both laughed. "What am I missing?"

"Since when did you read?" Sandy asked.

"Why do you always make me sound stupid?" I asked. She smiled back at me.

"Well we have to think up a name because the doctors and stuff here are getting impatient," Sandy told me. I sighed and kept looking down at our baby. She was awake, lying there staring up at me and Pony.

"Well I vote Vellocet."

"Soda! We're not voting!" Sandy said.

"I like Vellocet," I said. She nodded her approval and sat thinking for a moment.

"I like Vellocet, it's different," Sandy said. I grinned, not really knowing if she was kidding or not.

"Really?" I asked and she nodded. I was proud of myself. I had named our baby girl all by myself!

"Do we need a middle name?" I asked, in a complaining tone of voice. Sandy nodded.

"Ok, what will it be?" I asked.

"And I'm not ordering a burger either."

"What's up her ass?" I whispered to Pony. He chuckled which made Sandy angry. I looked down at my shoes and let Sandy decide.

"Her name is Vellocet Rose," Sandy said.

"Okay, I like it," I said. I really did like it but I didn't think a middle name was much important. I looked down at Vellocet Rose in the crib. It seemed to suit and I think she liked it. "Wait but what's her last name?" I asked, suddenly getting that same sick feeling from this morning. Sandy seemed worried too and Pony was ignoring us in case we asked his opinion. I felt like crying and amazingly I didn't. "I think we should give her your last name," I said.

"Are you sure?" she asked. I nodded and grinned. That sick feeling was still there but I don't think my last name would suit her.

"Vellocet Rose Dean," I said looking at her. I loved it.

* * *

We were at Sandy's house now. Pony had said he was going to see if he could find Johnny. Sandy's parents drove us home. They arrived at the hospital as we were registering Vellocet's name. They've left us alone; they went to buy a few things for Vellocet. I was holding her as we sat on the couch.

"I think she can sleep in my room, its big enough for all her things-"

"Your room?" I asked. This reminded me of what else I wanted to ask her. I had completely forgotten about it at the hospital. "She's living here?"

"Well yeah, I'm her mom."

"I'm her dad," I said. We stared at each other for a moment waiting for the other to say something. I sighed. I had an idea that we could move in together. Maybe at one of our houses since we couldn't afford something on our own.

"Well, it's not like we can move out or something," Sandy said, "My parents would never let me move out anyway. And I'm sure Darry wouldn't want you to leave." I looked down at Vellocet.

"I could move in," I said softly not looking at Sandy. It was silent for a minute, but Sandy's light breathing.

"We'll see," she said and we left it at that.

**I've rewritten this chapter but I've tried to keep it as close to the original as possible.**


	3. Can I Move In?

**Chapter Three**

I left a while later, when Sandy's parents came back. They bought everything for Vellocet. Clothes, a crib, a changing table. The list goes on. But I wasn't sure how to go about asking if either of us could move in with the other. I mean sure they liked me and I had known them for quite a while. But still having one more person and another baby in the house wouldn't be that great. Sandy had an older brother, Zack, who was 19. I had met him and we got along okay but he wasn't around much.

Sandy said that she would ask her parents about me moving in after I had left. She said that meant that her parents wouldn't feel pressured to say yes. And that made me think I wasn't wanted. But when Sandy smiled at me I forgot about that last thought.

I got home at twelve-thirty. Darry didn't even know where I had been, since I hadn't told him about Vellocet yet. So I decided now would be an alright time to tell him. No one was around yet and he was eating lunch in the lounge room when I got in.

"Hey Darry," I said, sitting on the couch beside him.

"Hey, where you been?" he asked.

"Just out. Look I need to tell you something," I said, sitting up straight. He looked from the TV to me. He looked pretty worried too. And he should be, I rarely spoke in this much of a serious voice. So he knew something was up.

"Um okay, what is it?" I took a deep breath and tried to quickly think of a way to tell him Vellocet had been born.

"Look last night I didn't go on a date," I started. He smiled a little. He must've thought that was all I had to say. "I was at the hospital," I watched him swallow, waiting for an answer.

"Why were you at the hospital?" he asked quickly, putting his plate on the coffee table.

"Because um. . .Sandy had the baby," I said, holding my breath. It was a minute before he spoke again and I was worried I'd run out of air by then. He didn't seem angry and he didn't yell. I was thankful for that.

"Really? Well that's. . .great," he said staring blankly at the ground.

"It's a girl. Her name is Vellocet," I said grinning at the fantastic name I had come up with, "But I need to ask something else too," Darry nodded, to tell me to go on, "I wanted to um, know if it would be okay if me and Sandy like um, maybe moved in together or something," I said.

"No," he said right away, "You're both sixteen and you have a baby! You can't live alone."

"No wait! I mean like I could live with her in her parents house or something," I said. I waited for him to say no and tell me I'm out of my mind but he didn't.

"I don't know. I mean it would mean an extra person in their house. And they might not want you there and-"

"We haven't asked them yet. Sandy is probably asking them right now," I said, hoping that would make him happy. He sat back on the couch and looked up at me.

"We'll see," He replied and picked up his plate from the coffee table.

I got a call from Sandy later that afternoon. It was a Saturday and I had nothing to do. So I had sat around all afternoon. Usually it wasn't something I'd do. But I was thinking a lot about what it would be like if I moved in with Sandy and her family.

I was sitting next to the phone in the lounge room when it rang. I reached over right away and pick it up.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hey Soda, it's me. I talked to my parents," she said in that voice I loved. I smiled. We weren't exactly together anymore, as a couple. So I hadn't seen her much the last few months. Also because she had to stay home and rest. I sort of missed her.

"And what happened?" I asked a little nervous about her answer.

"They think it's a good idea that you want to help raise Vellocet. But they want to talk to you in person about moving in," I gave a sigh of relief, that means they might say yes. But they may want to tell me no in person.

"Ok, when could I come see them?" I asked, suddenly wondering what Darry was going to make for dinner.

"Tonight?" I thought for a second. If I saw them tonight it would get it out of the way quicker.

"Sure, I'll come around six-thirty," I told her.

* * *

I knocked on Sandy's front door and waited for someone to answer. Not even a moment later Sandy opened it.

"Hey Soda," she said, grinning and I followed her inside, to the dining room where her family were ready to eat. Vellocet must've been asleep because she wasn't there.

"Hey," I said to Sandy's parents. They're names were James and Rose. Sometimes I called them by their names and sometimes they didn't like that. But Sandy said they told her I was a nice boy, so I didn't care.

"Hello Soda," Rose smiled at me. They were seated across from me and Sandy. I liked Sandy's house. It wasn't that great but it was much bigger than ours and it was clean. Sure there was mess in the lounge room and dishes piled up in the kitchen but when I went there it felt like home.

We were having chicken and baked potatoes. They must've known it was my favorite.

"Thanks for having me over," I said kind of hoping my politeness would make them say yes. Sandy's brother Zack was there but he hadn't said much. I think he wanted to leave.

"That's okay Soda, anytime," We went on eating and talking and I thought they might have forgotten about why I was even here. But once Rose and Sandy had cleared the dishes away and we were settled in the lounge room they brought it up.

"Now Soda, I know you want to be part of Vellocet's life but I'm not sure you've thought this through," Rose said, "I think it's a good idea for you to move in but I would like to speak with Darry first."

"Yeah well, I was talking' to Darry today and he said it was a good idea too," I said, holding Sandy's hand.

"I'm glad you're not going to ignore Sandy now," James started, "But we don't want Sandy moving out and if that means you must move in here, we're not sure how that's going to work," I thought for a second. They had a three bedroom house, so I couldn't have my own room. I could share with Sandy but I'm not sure how they'd take that if I mentioned it.

"Do you have any ideas of how we could work this out?' I asked. I just wish they'd say something like we'll get an extension and you can have the biggest bedroom and you can buy whatever you want to put it in. And then I'd go out and by everything, a pinball machine, the biggest stereo system I could find and of course a car, even thought I wasn't sure how that'd fit in my room.

"Well, we're not exactly sure but we do have a small back room where you could sleep. It's right by Sandy's room too. Come with us and we'll show you," James said, standing up and leading us down the hallway. We had to be quiet since Vellocet was sleeping. Rose and James didn't really like the name Vellocet at first but it grew on them.

The room was small, but it was nice. Right now they had a computer and some of their old clothes and things in there.

"We could put the computer in the front room and throw all these things way," James said pointing at the boxes stacked up by the wall.

"This is nice," I said, thinking of ways to decorate it. I was so sure they were going to say yes right now, 'So it's final, you can move in'. But they didn't, instead we went to sit back in the lounge room.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but I do think you should pay us each week, kind of like renting out that room," Rose said, going red. I thought for a second. That sounded fair to me. I got $120 a week. Working five days a week. But I could get more shifts at the DX if I wanted.

"No, that sounds fair," I agreed, "How much would I have to pay?"

"Maybe, twenty-five?" Rose said, looking at James. He thought for a second.

"Yes, twenty-five would be alright," he agreed with the idea. I smiled Sandy. Now all they had to do was talk to Darry and I was pretty sure he was going to say yes. I was pretty excited.

**I've rewritten this chapter but I've tried to keep it as close to the original as possible.**


	4. The Crying Of Vellocet

**Chapter Four**

It was Sunday night, after dinner and I was waiting for the right moment to ask Darry whether he had spoken to Sandy's parents or not. He was washing the dishes, since I had cooked and Pony was in our bedroom. It was quiet when I walked into the kitchen. Darry's back was to me and I don't think he knew I was there. I walked up and sat on the counter next to the sink. He hadn't looked at me yet and I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

"Hey Darry, did you talk to Sandy's parents today?" I asked, getting quieter and quieter. I didn't look at him while I waited for an answer.

"Yeah I did," he replied, and said nothing more. Well, was it good, I thought? "They said it would be alright for you to live with them. Sandy couldn't possibly live here. And we decided. . ." I could've died. They decided what? Why wasn't he finishing. I was still staring at the ground and noticed that Pony had walked in to get some books he had left on the table. He said nothing and went back to our bedroom. How did Darry know he was in here if he couldn't see him, I thought, "And we decided that it might be good for you to live with her," Darry finished. He looked up at me and I looked back at him.

"Thanks a lot Darry," I said, smiling, not really sure what else to say. "Does Pony know?" I asked. Darry shook his head and dried his hands on the tea towel, on the counter, "Well how am I supposed to tell him?" I asked. Darry shrugged.

"I don't know, just tell him. You're only moving a couple of streets away," I jumped off the bench and ran to our bedroom where Pony was sitting at the desk writing. I ran up and jumped on the bed next to where he was sitting, grinning at him. He smiled back and put his pen down.

"I gotta do this, what you want?" he asked. I started pressing the buttons on the stereo, though it was turned off. I was worried about how he would take this. Would he mind? Or would he hate me not being around as often. I didn't look at him and accidentally pressed the 'on' button on the stereo, making us both jump when the loud music blared through the room for a second. I turned it off and sat upright.

"You know how Sandy had the baby? I mean of course you know you've seen her and. . ." I kept mumbling on to myself while Pony stared at me, trying to figure out what I was on about. I realized what I was doing and started again, "Yeah well I decided to move into her place so we could like raise the baby together," I told him. He sat back in his chair and stared at the desk.

"That's okay, Soda," he said.

"Really?" I asked, not believing a thing he was saying. He nodded and smiled at me.

"It'll be quieter without you here but I'll still see you," he continued, staring at the desk still. As if his body and his voice were two separate things. I grinned and kneeled on the bed, going to hug him. And instead falling off the bed. Pony stared down at me, "Right," he said, before turning around and going back to his homework.

It didn't take me long to pack all my stuff up to move to Sandy's. There wasn't much I had to take. But I still had to argue with Pony. I wanted to take our stereo and he said it was his. Which it was, but I wanted it. In the end Darry told us off and said Pony to keep it. Then we argued over cd's. Pony claiming all the AC/DC cd's and giving me the Blink 182 albums. I didn't really feel like arguing I guess I just wasn't that excited about moving anymore. I mean I could still come see them whenever I wanted. And I could move back whenever I wanted. But still, I was so used to living with my two brothers. It would be weird coming home to Sandy and her family instead of Pony and Darry, plus a few other guys.

* * *

Two-Bit drove me over to Sandy's with the rest of my things. I had been moving some of my stuff over during the week and now most of my stuff was at her place. I just had to put it all in place and it would be fine. When we got there two-Bit stayed and helped me put my things away. Darry had yet to meet Vellocet and was coming around later. It was Saturday so he had the day off but he wasn't even awake yet.

"You wanna come out tonight?" Two-Bit asked, "There's a party somewhere near Kathy's house," His idea of helping me move in was sitting on the bed and saying 'Don't put that there put it here'. Then he tried stealing a few things, I have no idea why.

"I can't," I said, sticking another poster up on the wall. Darry said it was childish having posters on my wall. And I used to say he was just jealous of them. The posters are mainly of my favorite bands but there are also a few pictures of mom, dad, Darry, Pony, me and everyone else.

"Oh you're no fun," Two-Bit said standing up.

"Go ask Pony," I replied, putting a few cd's away.

"I just might. See ya Soda!" he said, a little too loudly and ran out of the room. Lucky Sandy's parents weren't home or Two-Bit wouldn't be let back.  
Everything was in place now and it looked good. I went into Sandy's room where she was dressing Vellocet. She was eight days old. She had on a little yellow jumpsuit. I loved her so much, but was still getting used to the idea that she was mine.

"Is Two-Bit gone?" Sandy asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, why? Too loud for ya?" I asked. She smiled down at Vellocet and shook her head.

"No. I was just going to go to sleep. You can look after Vellocet," I took Vellocet from her and held her close to me. She was so small I was worried I was going to hurt her. I was too scared to move in case she started crying.

"I'll look after her well," I told her. I walked out of the room and into the lounge room. It was only lunch time. Darry would be here soon to see her. I couldn't wait for him to meet her. I stared down at her; I couldn't take my eyes away. She looked just like Sandy. I was a little worried she would start crying and I wouldn't know what to do. But she hadn't yet, so that was a good sign. I turned on the TV, low of course, as Zack came in. We knew each other and we got on pretty good. But we weren't best friends.

"Hey," I said, as he walked past.

"Hey," he replied, and kept walking. I guess it would be kind of weird for him if I was here all the time. But Sandy's parents didn't mind I was here and that's what counted. I sat back; slowly making sure Vellocet wasn't annoyed by my moving. She wasn't and I let out a sigh of relief. Zack came back into the room and somehow he reminded me that maybe Vellocet hadn't eaten yet. I looked down at her. Well she wasn't crying so that must've meant she had been fed. My arms were getting sore from holding her and I wished I had of bought her crib out here.

"Zack, I uh, hope you don't mind that I'm here," I said. That's the dumbest thing you've ever said, I thought.

"Nah really, it's alright. I'm just glad you didn't ignore Sandy now that she's here," he said, pointing at Vellocet. I shifted her around in my arms hoping she wouldn't be so heavy. But she still was. "Want me to get her crib?" Zack asked and I nodded at him. Zack was a nice guy and he wasn't really caught up with this greaser/Soc thing like other people were. I was glad about that. He came back a few minutes later with the crib and I put Vellocet in it, who was now drifting off to sleep.

I sat back down on the couch, Zack did too. We sat silently watching TV. I couldn't wait for everyone else to meet Vellocet. But I was worried at the same time. What if they didn't want to hang around as much? What if they thought that Vellocet took up all my time and they wouldn't be able to see me anymore? They know that Sandy's house is different. As in they can't come and go as they please. But I was still going to be able to hang out with them. I wasn't going to stop seeing them.

A noise broke me out of my thoughts. Not just any noise, but the crying of Vellocet. I looked at Zack and he looked back. I had no idea why she was crying. Usually it was because they're hungry, wasn't it? But what do I feed her?

"What's wrong?" I asked Zack. He shrugged.

"I don't know. Whenever she cries Sandy is with her," We both got up and went over to the crib near the end of the couch. She was getting louder and louder. I was worried, what was I supposed to do? I was beginning to panic.

"Go get Sandy," I said, to Zack while I picked up Vellocet.

"She's sleeping."

"Who cares, she's crying," I hissed, getting angry. Zack quickly went down the hall to get Sandy. I rocked her back and forth a little. But she wasn't going to stop crying. I wanted to cry. I was a horrible father. She's only eight days old and I still don't know how to look after her. Sandy came into the room, followed by Zack. She seemed a little annoyed that she had been woken up but came right over and took Vellocet from me. I smiled at her.

"It's okay Soda," she said, "She's hungry," and she took her out of the room. I flopped down on the couch and crossed my arms. If Sandy feeds her that means I have to change her I thought.

"Oh no," I said.

"What?" Zack asked, confused.

"If she feeds her then I have to change Vellocet," I said out loud, telling him what I had been thinking. He thought about it for a second and broke out into a grin.

"Good luck," he replied slapping me on the shoulder and falling back onto the couch. I have to change her? I probably won't even do that right!

Darry and Pony came over a little while later. Sandy hadn't returned from feeding her. So while Darry and Pony waited in the lounge room I went to get her. I knocked on Sandy's door.

"Come in," she said. I went in, it was dark. Except for her lamp. I went over to where Sandy was sitting up on the bed holding Vellocet. I could've cried then, they looked so perfect together.

"Hey, Darry and Pony are here," I said. She smiled and looked at Vellocet. She was going back to sleep and to tell you the truth I was glad. They wouldn't be able to hold her if she was crying. Sandy stood up and followed me out to the lounge room, where Pony and Darry were laughing at something. "What you laughing at?" I asked.

"Nothing," Pony said and settled down. I shrugged and Sandy sat between them on the couch. They both looked on amazed.

"She looks just like you Soda," Darry said. I grinned. Everyone thought she looked like either one of us, not the both of us. "What's her name again?"

"Vellocet," I said, still proud of myself for choosing such a great name.

"Here Darry you can hold her," Sandy said, letting Darry take Vellocet from her. He stared down at her, smiling.

"Has anyone else met her yet?" Darry asked.

"Only some of my family and Pony," Sandy said, looking up at me. I smiled back at her, and then looked at Vellocet. This was perfect.

**I've rewritten this chapter but I've tried to keep it as close to the original as possible.**


	5. Wanna Go Out Tomorrow Night?

**Chapter Five**

I didn't sleep that night. It was the worst night of my life. I thought babies slept, cried, ate, pooped and started the routine all over again. Sure Vellocet pretty much had this kind of routine but the crying part seemed to last forever that night. We put her to sleep at eight-thirty, after she had been fed. Then me and Sandy got to relax a little. By that I mean Sandy slept and I watched TV. I was kind of missing the loudness of our house. But then again the quietness here was heaven. It was just me in the lounge room. Zack was out and Sandy's parents were in another room. When I heard the cry! I listened for a moment. Thinking she might just be having a dream or something. But I heard her cry again and I jumped off the couch. Making a new record for getting to Sandy's room. I slowly opened the door, where Sandy was standing over Vellocet's crib. I went over to her, staring down at her.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I don't know, maybe she needs to be changed," Sandy said, picking Vellocet up. I hadn't changed her yet. I didn't want to.

"Oh um, okay," I mumbled, looking at what Sandy was doing to stop her from crying. She was rocking her gently. I would never be able to do that. I mean, I'd never be able to get her to stop crying. Vellocet's cry's went from loud and got softer and softer and until she was quiet and asleep again, "Why was she crying?" I asked. Sandy slowly put her back into her crib.

"She just wanted attention from her mummy and daddy," Sandy said. A grin spread across my face. Mummy and daddy. My heart was fluttering. Did this mean that she wanted us to stay together? Sandy walked over to the door and motioned for me to follow her. She shut the door quietly and went out to the lounge room. I sat back down in my same place as before and kept thinking about what she had said. She had said mummy and daddy. She must be trying to tell me something. Like a sign or something saying she wants to be my girlfriend again.

Sandy didn't seem too excited about what she had said. Maybe she was just trying to tell Vellocet who we are. She was sitting on the other end of the couch, legs crossed. I thought she should probably be sleeping, but whatever. I stared blankly at the TV. I hadn't spent much time with Vellocet this week. I had to pack up my things and work. So I decided as of tomorrow I was going to change her and spend every single second of my life with her. I didn't want her to forget me.

I was kind of tired now. After telling Sandy I was going to sleep I walked off to my bedroom. I shut the door and lay back on my bed. I didn't like being here as much as I thought I would. I thought I'd love living with Sandy and Vellocet. But it was too quiet and there wasn't much to do. I could hardly put on the radio or yell out to someone because I was worried I would wake Vellocet. Sure it was only my first day here but it didn't feel like home anymore.

I decided to take a walk. It wasn't late and I wasn't going to stay out late. I let Sandy know where I was going and left. Sandy said that would be fine if I left for a while. I was walking along, almost at our house now. Our real house. I had decided to come see them; there wasn't much else to do. I ran up the porch steps, making as much noise as I could. I opened the door making sure to slam it shut and grinned.

"I'm home!" I yelled. Pony looked up from where he was sitting on the couch.

"Hey," he said, and turned back to his notebook he was writing in. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to see ya," I told him, wandering over to the radio to turn it on, "Where's Darry?"

"Out with friends. Why don't you go out with Steve somewhere?'

"Why don't you want me here? Anyways I'm a dad I don't have time for parties."

"But you have time to come over here," Pony said, looking up at me. I grinned, and turned up the radio on some station I had found. I flopped down on the couch beside Pony and looked at his notebook.

"Why are you home anyway?" I asked, taking my shoes off and putting my feet up on the coffee table.

"Because there's nothing else to do," I sighed; I thought there would be something to do here. But there's not. I walked off to Pony's room. Everything was pretty much the same. Just without my things everywhere.

"Hey, you want to go out somewhere?" I yelled down the hallway to Pony. He didn't answer so I took that for a no. I went into the kitchen and looked through the fridge. There was no chocolate cake. There's something to do! I grabbed all the ingredients I'd need to make the cake and set to work. As I was mixing it all together Pony came in. "Do you think Vellocet would like chocolate cake?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm bored," he said, leaning on the counter. I continued mixing and wondering what kind of person Vellocet would be when she grows up. Would she be the popular girl or the quiet one who likes to read? Would she look like me or Sandy? I finished mixing the cake and put it in the oven, telling Pony everything about Vellocet while I did that.

I went home at nine-thirty, thinking that Sandy probably wanted me to help with Vellocet. Sandy was in her room when I got in, changing Vellocet. Her parents told me, they were in the lounge room when I went in. It feels weird just going on into Sandy's house. But I guess I'll have to get used to it. I went into Sandy's room where she was just putting a clean pink jumpsuit on her.

"Hey," I said.

"Oh, hey. Where did you go?" she asked.

"I went home, to see Pony," I said. She buttoned up the jumpsuit and picked Vellocet up, "Let me," I said holding out my arms. Sandy put Vellocet in my arms and I hugged her close. Hoping she'd know who I was. Even thought she was eight days old, I'm sure she knew who Sandy was but not me.

"Soda, I was wondering, if you wanted to go out tomorrow night," Sandy said, stroking the top of Vellocet's head. I smiled.

"Yeah, that would be good," I said, not even having to think about it. I smiled at Sandy. She smiled back and looked back down at Vellocet.

"My parents will look after Vellocet," she said. I nodded. I was pretty excited. This was just what I had hoped for. Me and Sandy getting back together. Raising Vellocet together. I couldn't wait for tomorrow night when we would go out.

**I've rewritten this chapter but I've tried to keep it as close to the original as possible.**


	6. Three Weeks Old

**Chapter Six**

I'm trying to get Vellocet to go to sleep. I'm used to having her around now. I know how to change her, and feed her. I love her more everyday. There is a downside to having a baby though. Sandy's parents say they'll look after her whenever we want, just for a while though. So we can go out and enjoy life. But I hardly see Steve outside of work and I can barely remember what Two-Bit even looks like. Vellocet is three weeks old now. So that's three weeks of seeing all the guys maybe once or twice. But then again, I like having to look after Vellocet. I know that makes me sound like I'm talking about my pet dog or something. But I don't know how else to put it.

I look out the window. It's almost Christmas, which I'm very excited about. I love Christmas. I mean who wouldn't love getting presents! But I used to love Christmas the most because all our family and friends got together and we'd have a fantastic few days together until they had to leave. But we haven't seen our aunts or uncles, even cousins, since mom and dad left. It's like they don't consider us family anymore. Which I hate.

Vellocet is asleep now. I slowly go over to her crib and gently put her down. I fix her blankets and close the curtains on the window. Then I leave the room, turning off the light and shutting the door. The house was quiet now. Perfect time to sleep. And even though I really wanted to sleep, the house was a mess. It was just me home, and Vellocet, so I decided to clean it up. I went to the kitchen first, where there were dishes from this morning. And as much as I hate cleaning, I thought I better do it. Sandy's parents have let me live here and the least I can do is help clean up. So I started at that and was finished soon. Without Pony or Darry here I didn't have anyone to talk to while I washed and dried the dishes. Then I put them away and cleaned up the counter. This was actually just wiping the crumbs onto the floor.

The kitchen looked pretty good and I went onto the lounge room. Pretty much just straightening everything up. I was dead bored by the time I finished that. Too much cleaning in one day. I collapsed onto the couch and leaned back, shutting my eyes. I'll just rest for a moment. We didn't have one of those baby monitor things yet because someone is usually with Vellocet. But I knew I'd be able to hear her if she cried or something. She was just down the hall. Not far away. . .

"Soda!" I jumped, opening my eyes and seeing Sandy standing right in front of me, arms crossed. Oh shit, what've I done? She usually doesn't get this mad.

"Yeah?" I said, actually a little bit scared.

"Vellocet was crying. You were sleeping. You see a problem with that?" she asked. Oh, she looked mad and I wanted to run. Vellocet was crying. I didn't want her to think I was doing anything wrong.

"I'm sorry. She wasn't crying for long and I was um. . . real tired," I said, getting quieter as I went along. She frowned. Vellocet wasn't crying anymore so maybe I had been asleep for ages with Vellocet crying in the background. Oh no, I'm turning into one of those parents that doesn't give a shit about their kid. What am I gonna do? No, calm down Soda, I told myself. It was an accident. I bet it's happened to Sandy before.

"Look Soda, I know you're tired and you're sorry. But there could've been something wrong!" Sandy said, "She might've been hurt or something!" She sat on the couch beside me and I put my arm around me.

"Sandy, I'm really sorry. I am. I feel bad," I said. She nodded, putting her head in her hands. Oh great, look what you've done. She's going to cry now, I thought, "What was wrong with her?' I asked.

"I don't know. Attention or something," Sandy said. I sighed. I just wanted to die. Sure maybe she was crying over nothing, but it could've been something much worse.

**I've rewritten this chapter but I've tried to keep it as close to the original as possible.**


	7. How It Is Now

_I'm going to skip ahead. Vellocet is now four years old._

**Chapter Seven**

2012. Four years old. Looks like me. Acts like me. It's hell.

Vellocet's four now. Her birthday was just last month. It's almost Christmas now. It's weird thinking back to when she was just born. Four years ago. I still live with Sandy, her parents too. Zack moved out a while ago, with his girlfriend. I still see pony and Darry almost everyday. Sometimes they come over and they bring Johnny or Steve. Dally isn't allowed back, after something that happened two years ago. Two-Bit comes over as well but Sandy's parents don't like him much. They say he makes himself too comfortable and he is too loud sometimes.

Steve was right, she looks just like me. Really. Except her now blond hair is exactly like Sandy's hair. Besides that, she's me! Oh, she acts like me too. Pony once told me what it was like to live with me. He said 'I was quite loud, I never sat still for too long, I could destroy a room by walking into it, I had too much chocolate and I talked too much.' But I never thought I was that bad. Until Vellocet learnt to talk, and she hasn't stopped since.

But I'm twenty now. I work at the DX still. I don't ever think I'll get tired of working there. I get paid more as well. I guess I love my life right now. Except for one thing. But right now it doesn't matter as I'm about to take Vellocet to see Ponyboy.

I'm walking along, holding Vellocet's hand. It's only the start of winter so it's not too cold yet. I don't have my own car yet but I've been saving up. I can buy one soon. And maybe even me and Sandy could move out. Anyway I'm trying to get home quickly, I'm pretty hungry. But it's hard with Vellocet stopping to touch the snow every two seconds. I grab her hand and gently pull her along, hoping she'll just decide to walk. No luck. Again, stopping to touch the snow on a tree in someone's front yard. Instead, I pick her up and walk quicker. It was beginning to rain a little. I wasn't really up for jumping in puddles right now.

I went right on in the house and dropped Vellocet onto the couch.

"Hi, Uncle Pony," she said jumping onto the couch beside him. She rolled over until she was at the other end of the couch. I took my shoes off, kicking them into the corner of the room and went to get something to eat. Chocolate cake, of course. I took it back to the lounge room where Pony was sitting beside Vellocet, listening to her go on and on about something. She gets over excited and talks too fast. I sat down on Vellocet's other side. Shoving the cake into my mouth.

"And we went all around the park!" Vellocet finished, her arms almost hitting me in the face. I finished off the chocolate cake and dusted off my hands.

"What you doing today, Pony?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said, bored. Oh well this is fun. I felt something tap my arm and looked down at Vellocet.

"Can we play outside?" she asked, looking out the window.

And soon enough we were outside in the snow. Vellocet isn't actually playing, just touching the snow. Occasionally eating it. When she puts it in her mouth she scrunches up her face. As if to say too cold. But she keeps doing it and I'm getting tired of telling her not to.

"Hey, why don't we make a snowman?" I say to her. She looks at me. Eyebrows raised.

"No," she says. I look up at Pony who's laughing. I stick my tongue out at him and pick up Vellocet. Who squeals. All of a sudden she stops and stares at me. "Put me down!" Did I mention she was quite bossy sometimes?

**I've rewritten this chapter but I've tried to keep it as close to the original as possible.**


End file.
